15 August, 2007

Celebrating Freedom with Oriya Cuisine

"Where the mind is without fear
and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been
broken up into fragments by
narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from
the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches
its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary
desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is lead forward by theeinto ever-widening thought and action-
into that heaven of freedom, my Father,let my country awake."

-Rabindranath Tagore from Geetanjali

This is a day to rejoice and celebrate our independence. At the same time take few minutes of your time to pray for the freedom fighters who dreamt of freedom and made their dreams into reality for us. Wishing all proud Indians A Very Happy 60th Year of Independence…

The land India is like a Thali, a platter containing selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each food tastes different, and does not necessarily mix with the next. Still they belong together on the same plate and complement each other in making the total satisfying meal. The very finest of Indian cuisine is as rich and diverse as its civilization. They say in India the language differs for every two hundred miles travelled and food is no exception.Lakshmi’s RCI, Regional Cuisines of India, is one event which I look forward to. The instructions are quite simple and straight forward; cook any dish of particular Indian state every month. While browsing through Spice Corner Archives I realised most of the times I have been cooking and posting recipes which I have learned from my Amma, Grandma, MIL or friends and they are very limited to something which I am used to eating since long time. I am not very experimental or adventurous when it comes to cooking and eating different food. RCI is not just a great reason for me to cook completely new recipe from different states of India but also gives me the opportunity to learn little more about the culture, people, food etc of that region. This month lovely Swapna, of beautiful blog called Swad is guest hosting RCI-Oriya Cuisine. And also Anita of A Mad Tea Party is throwing a great Independence Day party to celebrate 60th year of independence. How can I stay away from this mad party where we are asked to bring deep fried Poories with Potato Bhaji. Here I come Anita...

Panch-Phutana: Fennel, Nigella (Kalonji), Fenugreek, Mustard & Cumin

Orissa or Kalinga, as it was then called, is a eastern Indian state with an ethnic past that is still vibrant. It was here that the famous Battle of Kalinga was fought which made King Ashoka forsake war and to become a follower of Buddhism and spread the spirit of ahimsa and peace. This rich state of architectural splendour and magnificent coastline teaches how simple food cooked using local ingredients can bring out the rich and heavenly flavour. Unlike the fiery spiced curries associated with Indian food, the Oriya food is usually subtle and delicately spiced using Panch-Phutana, a mix of five spices- Cumin, Mustard, Fennel, Fenugreek and Nigella (Kalonji) seeds.

Chana Dali & Piaj Sag Bhaja with Luchi

After searching the internet for vegetarian dishes from Orissa I ended up making not just one Dish but two. I tweaked recips from Oriya Kitchen which showcases wonderful array of dishes. The simple Chana Dali of Puri Jagannath Temple where the spilt Chana Dal is simmered in lightly spiced creamy coconut gravy tastes as good as it sounds. The creamy dal has got light nutty taste from channa and the tempering of aromatic Chari-Phutna defines the new dimension of taste.

Method:
Wash and clean chana dal in water
Cook this cleaned chana dal in pressure cooker with turmeric, salt and sugar for 10-15 minutes till the it’s cooked well. Cool the pressure cooker till it releases its pressure before opening the lid.
Grind all coconut, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, cumin and coriander seeds to smooth paste adding little water at a time.
Add this ground paste and ¼-½ cup of water, if needed, to the cooked dal. Simmer and cook for another 20 minutes till the dal thickens.
Heat ghee in a tadka pan and add chari-phutna. When the spices start to pop and splutter, transfer the tempering to cooked dal and mix well.
Serve this delicious Chana Dali with rice or roties.

Piaj Sag Bhaja or Green/Spring Onion stir fry is another dish I couldn’t resist from trying. This simple stir fry of spring onion with diced potato in a simple tempering of punch-phutana brings out the true tastes of vegetables without any spices overpowering the fresh taste of vegetables.

Method:
Wash the spring onion and then cut its green part into 1 inch pieces. Chop the white part into very thin slices and keep them separate.
Heat oil and add panch-phutana seeds and sauté till they start to pop and splutter.
Now add finely chopped onion and spring onion slices and minced green chilli. Sauté these onions till they turn golden brown.
Now add diced potato, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and sauté until potato is almost cooked. You can sprinkle little water in between so that the vegetables don’t stick to the bottom of pan.
Then add spring onion and cook for another 5-6 minutes over a medium flame.
Serve hot Piaj Sag Bhaja with rice or any Indian bread.

Here is the recipe for soft and white puffed luchies served with delicious Piaj Sag Bhaja and Chana Dali.

Method:
Mix oil and salt with all purpose flour. Add water little at a time to make soft pliable dough. Careful while adding water as maida needs less water and tends to become too soft and sticky if more water is added.
Make small ball and roll it into small roties. Make sure that u doesn’t roll them into very thin roties.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan at medium heat and fry one luchi at a time.
When luchies puffs and cooks well which should not take more than 30-45 seconds transfer them on paper towel.
Serve hot puffed white beauties with any curry of your choice.

Chana Dali & Piaj Sag Bhaja with Luchi

Lovely Cynthia of Tastes Like Home has kindly given me The Power of Schmooze Award. I feel very humble and grateful and am not sure if I deserve this award. Thank you Cynth for your kind gesture.

The Power of Schmooze Award is for bloggers who “effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.”

Update: Time for more bragging;) Baking Fairy Sunita of Sunita's World and thoughtful writer Santi of Writing on the Mirror thinks I rock! Boy! I do feel like I am back in school days on annual day celebration;) Thanks Suni and Santi for this award and right now my cheeks matches the pretty pink of this cute button.

I would like to pass this Rocking Girl Blogger Award to all these gals who surely rocks:) Keep rocking girls;)

92 comments
:

At last Oriya cuisine is here!!:DWorth the wait Sia, they all lok yummy.Easy and yummy dishes, don't you think to make them,I mean Oriya food in general.Simple and delicious.Hey, you are smoozeable!! Enjoy!It does fit you perfectly.I didn't want to choose betn all the foodie bloggers, so I left it alone! Have a great day dear girl,hugs:)I will post Poori bhaji tomorrow at Aroma, you will love the Bhaji.

Happy Independence Day to u Dear!The thali looks sooooooo delectable! its been ages since i ate puris! I am so hungyr for them now. And both the sabji's look yumm! How about i'll swap the salad for that thali of u're ;-)HugsLatha

Oh :-) I was so taken in with the thali and hungry after reading u're thing on the masala, the luchi etc etc that i got so hungry and rushes to heat up my measly lunch of rotis and sabji! Thanks so much for the award... never been given one so i am so excited! Thanks for thinking of me hon!Hugs Latha

oriya dishes looks yummy ! i never tried any of this. and i bet luchi must be tempting just a s our poori, right? i loved the idea behind schmooz award :) , and you deserve it well. thanks for sharing lovely dishes, i m not gonna miss anyone ofyour dishes now :D. Happy Independence day !

You managed to cook a whole meal Sups! It is looking gr8 especially those Luchis.The picture of the panch phutana in those spoons is looking very nice :)Congrats :) for the well deserved awards Sups.Yesterday was my awards day too. Latha (yum blog)gave me and now its you. Very kind of you.I don't think so I deserve them.Thanks sweetie for the awards :)

hey sia the food rashi yummy kanthu. sorry enage very bad ear infection with a knee sprain ayidu with lot of events even at work place so had been off blogging. will be back once my ear is feeling better. You think I rock? he he thanks for the award girl am blushing :) . i am really missing all these hope to get back soon. :) bye

Awww geee, I'm so touched.. thanks dear!!! :) Happy Independence Day to you, too! Muaks muaks! How many gals am I supposed to pass this on to? Sorry I've been so out of touch for so long, but I should be cooking new things by next week! (I know this is from another post, but your matar paneer looks annoyingly good!) :)

@san,i leant there r many similarities bet oriya and bong cooking styles. and more over first time i had seen the panch-phoran in ur blog. thats why i love this RCI event coz it made me cook something which otherwise i would have never done. do u have channa dali recipe in ur blog san? is it same or different from what i have blogged?

@cynth,thank u for ur generosity girl. i will wear that award with pride in my blog:)yes, i too first came across panch phoran in sandeepa's blog. orissa and west bengal state share are neighbouring states in east india. so no wonder two states share some common and similar recipes.

@pooja,so good to see u girl:) yes, the preparation and method for making luchi is quite similar to poories excepet luchies use maida. so at last u look like ready to blog:) its been quite some time since u posted any recipes rt? have u got adjusted to new place and new people? will mail u sometime soon sweetie:)

@nupur,chana dali was creamy coz of coconut i used and little nutty coz of channa retains its nuttiness. it was little sweet coz of coconut and sugar. i guess i will skip sugar and add a chilli or two to give it little spiceness. neverthelss it was absolute bliss with luchies:)

Hi Sia, I tried your Oriya spread this evening. They were delicious. The only thing I did different was that I added ajwain seeds instead of Kalonji seeds. They were MMMM...good. Thanks for the great recipes!!!

@lakshmi,thankx and u too rock girl:) haven't seen any new posts in ur blog since quite sometime. r u taking some break?

@sudha,its a gr8 feeling when someone tries your recipe and shares how they enjoyed it. i am really glad to know u loved the oriya spread sudha:) i used kalonji coz its one of the panch-phoran. but the beauty of indian cuisine is how easily it adapts to new ingredients. i will add ajwain next time when i cook this:) thank u for letting me know sudha:)

I don't have a "Cholar Dal" recipe in my blog. While you used grated coconut, the original Bengali recipe calls for tiny coconut pieces but even i use grated cocnut because that is easily available here.Rest is same

@trupti,good to see u T. take a break from ur hectic schedule and come to UK girl. i will look after little brats while u n K get sometime for urself. hwz the idea? ;)will mail u soon girl. got to tell u so many things.

@san,i checked ur "shrimpy" Piaj Sag Bhaja san. i was not sure as how long i am supposed to cook spring onion as it was not clearly mentioned in that site. so just went by my insticts:)so its tiny pieces of coconut is it? i guess it will be same as we have to grind them with other spices to add it to the cooked dal. thanks for letting me know dear:)

Such a beautiful pic and mouthwatering recipes, did not know that panch pooran is a native of Orissa, always thought it was used by bengalis.And congratulations on your award, you always have a way to keep the readers engaged with your words,recipes and pictures.lots of hugs

Beautiful pix, as always, Sup! Hey, your hall of fame is getting big! Congratulations, Sup! Of course, you rock! And of course, you're a big schmoozer too! And oh so sweet for thinking of me even though I haven;t been schmmozing that much these days! Thank you, sweetheart!Never tried Oriya cuisine. I hadn't even thought of Oriya cuisine until the RCI event. Am bookmarking this post so I get to try the curries soon.

Hey Sweetie.. Just finished reading the post. Loved the Indian flag picture and the spices in the spoon. CLEVER photography.

AWARD for me.. WOW I am greatly honored. Thanks Sia !

And talking about schmoozing... You are the right person to own that award. You have been unanimously voted as the schmoozer girl ! CONGRATS ! Oh ! almost forgot ! I tried Mutter Paneer from you previous post yesterday. God its delicious ! Thanks for the yummo recipe. Hoping to see more of those. I know I know.. I am stopping now before I fill the entire comment page :)

@greenphil,thanks for pointing out the mistake. i have made changes in my post.it was quite difficult to find oriya recipes online and i dont own any cookbooks which features oriya food. i will do little more research on dalma and Chinguri Tarkari and cook n post the recipes .

Dear Sia, I was browsing ur wonderful space and now I had to stop here dear.U really made me nostalgic since I am from Orissa and channa dali from Puri is divine.The onion bhaji is too delish and goes really well with Puri. Oh great !!!!!!! with lovely pictures.I just enjoyed it , Thanks

Namaste! I am Sia and welcome to Monsoon Spice, my virtual home. Thank you for all your comments, inputs and feedback. I really appreciate the valuable time you spent browsing through my recipe repertoire.

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About Sia

Born in India and raised in fun and food loving family, I currently reside in UK with my better half and my two babies, five years old son and nine years old food blog. My cooking style has strong root in Indian culture and at the same time embraces the world cuisine with equal passion. With never ending love for food, spice and life, I am passionate about cooking and making Indian food less intimidating, healthy and easy to cook which reflects in my blog Monsoon Spice which has been ranked one among Top Indian food blogs. Read more…

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